The Dare Game

One wanted to put her arm round him and wipe his eyes and yell at Football to go and pick on someone his own size. And the other wanted to bounce a ball on his brainy little bonce too. The Tracy twins argued it out. Guess which one won. 'You're such a wimp, Alexander. Why can't you stick up for yourself? You daren't do anything.' Alexander drooped. 'I did do that dare,' he said. 'Even though it meant the whole school called me names.' 'What dare?' said Football, still bouncing. 'I'm Tracy Beaker, the Great Inventor of Extremely Outrageous Dares,' I said proudly. 'Like?' said Football, catching the ball. 'Like anything,' I said. 'So dare me,' said Football, swaggering. I let half a dozen ideas flicker in my head. None of them seemed quite suitable for Football. I squeezed my brain hard. I needed something suitably scary, rude and revolting. Alexander seemed to think I needed help. 'Tracy dared wave her knickers in the air!' he announced. 'Shut up, Alexander!' I hissed. 150

Football grinned. 'OK, Tracy, I dare you wave your knickers. Go on!' 'Get lost,' I said. 'And anyway, you can't copy my dare.' 'All right. I'll think of a better one.' Football was grinning from ear to ear now. 'I dare you take your knickers off and hang them on the fir tree like a Christmas decoration!' I stared at him. It wasn't fair. It was a BRILLIANT dare. Definitely Tracy Beaker stan- dard. Oh how I wanted to zip his grin up! 'You can't ask Tracy to do that!' said Alexander. 'It's far too dangerous.' 'I climbed out into the tree,' said Football. 'Yes, but you're bigger and stronger than Tracy,' said Alexander. 'And madder,' he added softly. 'There isn't anyone madder than me,' I said. 'OK, I'll do your stupid old dare, Football, easy-peasy.' 'Tracy!' said Alexander. He looked at me, he looked at Football. 'Is this just a game?' 'It's my game, my Dare Game,' I said. 'Only it's way too daring for you, Little Gherkin.' 'Gherkin?' said Football. 'One of them 151

little wizened pickled things?' 'Alexander gets called Gherkin because everyone's seen what he looks like in the showers!' Football cracked up laughing. 'Gherkin! That's a good one! Gherkin!' Alexander looked at me, his eyes huge in his pinched face. 'Why are you being so mean to me today, Tracy?' 'You're mean to me, trying to stop me living happily ever after with my mum, when it's what I've always wanted more than anything in the whole world,' I said, and I marched to the window, kicking the broken glass out the way, and hitched myself up onto the window ledge. 'Tracy! Don't! What if you fall?' Alexander shrieked. I hooked one leg out. 'Tracy! I wasn't serious. You're too little,' Football shouted. 'I'm not little! I'm Tracy the Great and I always win every single dare,' I yelled, getting the other leg out and standing up straight. Straightish. My legs were a bit wobbly. 152

I looked down – and then wished I hadn't. 'Come back, Tracy!' said Alexander. But I couldn't go back. I had to go forward. 'This is the Dare Game, and I'm going to win it, just you wait and see.' I looked at the tree – and jumped. One second I was in the air and there were screams – some mine – and then I had twigs up my nose and scratching my face and I was clinging there, in the tree, hands hanging onto branches, feet curled against the trunk. I'd made it! I hadn't fallen! I had managed a thrilling death-defying l-e-a-p! Football gave his Tarzan cry behind me and I joined in too, long and loud. 'Now come back in, Tracy,' Alexander pleaded. 'I haven't started yet!' I said. 'Shut your eyes. And you, Football.' They both blinked at me like they'd forgotten the whole point of the dare. 'I've got to take my knickers off now, so no peeping,' I commanded. They shut their eyes obediently. Well, one of them did. 153

'Football! Think I'm daft? Stop squinting at me!' I yelled. Football's eyes shut properly this time. I gingerly let go of the branch and started fidgeting under my skirt. It was a lot more scary only holding on with one hand. It would have been much more sensible to take my knickers off before I was in the tree, but it was too late now. I got them around my knees, and then reached down. The garden wavered way down below me and I felt sick. 'Don't, Tracy! You'll fall!' Football shouted. 'Shut your ******* eyes!' I was so peeved he was peering right up my short skirt I forgot to be frightened, eased my knickers over my foot and then straightened up in a flash. 'They're off!' I yelled, waving them like a flag. Football cheered. 'Shove them on a branch for a second and then get back in,' he shouted. 'You've won the bet, Trace. Good for you.' 'Yes, come back now, Tracy,' said Alex- ander. I didn't want to come back right that instant. 154

I was starting to get used to it in the tree. I looked up instead of down. It was a great feeling to be up so high. I reached for the next branch and the next and the next. The boys yelled at me but I took no notice. I'd turned into Monkey Girl, leaping about the treetops without a worry in the world. The tree swayed a little more as I got nearer the top, but I didn't mind a bit. It felt soothing, not scary. If I was Monkey Girl I could swing in my tree all day long and at night I could fashion myself a leafy hammock and rock myself to sleep. I started to think seriously about a tree- house. I could get Alexander to design it – not one of his cardboard concoctions, a proper planks of wood job. Football and I could knock it together and somehow secure it to the tree. Yes, a treehouse would be absolutely amazing. I could furnish it with blankets and cushions and have heaps of provisions and I could live up there all the time and spy on all my enemies and everyone would talk in awed tones about Tracy of the Treetops. I decided to make a start on the treehouse idea for real, but then I remembered I was going to live with my mum any minute now so 155

there wasn't any point and I got a bit distracted – and slipped. I scrab- bled and grabbed the next branch down, hanging on for dear life. Or lousy life. Any kind of life. 'Watch out, Tracy!' 'Tracy! Come back! You're the nutter now!' My heart was hammering and my hands were slippy with sweat but I thought I'd wind them up just a little bit more. I climbed higher, up and up, branch after branch, hand over hand, foot after foot, concentrating fiercely now. I climbed until I was fast running out of tree, the branches becoming so delicate and spindly that some broke right off when I took hold of them – but I dared go even higher so that I could just about reach up up up to the very top. I hooked my knickers round and attached them to the tip like a big white star. 156

I saw stars too, a whole galaxy of constel- lations shining and sparkling in celebration. I'd done it! The most Daring Dare ever and I'd done it. Then I climbed all the way down, feeling my way with my feet, down and down and down until at long last I came level with the window, and there were Football and Alexander gazing out at me open-mouthed as if I was an angel swooping straight down from heaven. 'Out the way then, you gawpers,' I commanded, and they drew apart like curtains. I got ready to spring. I made it right through the window. I didn't even fall over. I landed on my feet. Tracy the Fabulous Cat Girl with all her nine lives still in front of her. 'How about that!' I said, and I did this crazy dance around the room. Football danced with me, leaping about, clap- ping me on the back. 'You're the greatest, kid. Knickers off and all!' 157

'Yeah, I'm the greatest, aren't I? Aren't I, Alexander?' 'You're the maddest!' said Alexander. 'I'm a total jelly with watching you. Look, I'm still shaking.' 'Gherkin jelly! Yuck,' I said. 'You're mad. You're both mad,' said Alexander. 'Can't you see? You could have been killed. It doesn't make you the greatest.' 'No, you're the greatest! The greatest meanest bore ever,' I said, poking him. How dare he try to spoil my Stupendous Achievement? 'She is the greatest. And so am I,' said Football, poking him too. 'Stop poking me,' said Alexander, hunching up small. 'You're not not not great, not just because you take stupid risks and nearly kill yourselves.' I was starting to feel like killing Alexander. He was acting like this irritating little gnat nipping away at my ankles. Any second now I'd stick out my hand and go SWAT. 'Don't make me really mad, Alexander,' I warned him, giving him another poke. 158

'You're already mad at me for saying all that stuff about your mum. That's why you keep picking on me.' 'That's got nothing to do with it,' I said fiercely. I'm mad at you because you're maddening!' 'No wonder they all pick on you at your school,' Football jeered. 'No wonder even your own dad can't stand you.' He didn't touch him this time but somehow it was worse than a poke. I wavered just a weeny bit. 'Well, he must like him really.' 'No he doesn't,' said Alexander. Big tears were rolling down his cheeks. 'He can't stand me.' I felt so mean that it made me even angrier with him. 'That's rubbish! Don't be so stupid.' I gave him a sudden push. 'You're really starting to irritate me now.' 'You've always irritated me, Gherkin,' said Football. 'Don't call me that,' Alexander said, snif- fling. 'Gherkin, Gherkin, Gherkin!' Football chanted. 'Wizened little Gherkin who can't play the Dare Game.' 159

'I did play it! I did do a dare, didn't I, Tracy?' 'Yeah, you were mad enough to tell the whole school to call you Gherkin!' 'Stop it!' 'Gherkin, Gherkin, Gherkin!' I yelled, right in his face. Football was right beside me. 'You clear off, Gherkin, this is our house,' he said. 'I was here first,' Alexander wept. 'But we're here now,' I said. 'And we don't want you, do we, Trace?' I couldn't be quite that mean. There was still a bit of me that wanted to put my arms round Alexander and give him a hug. Alexander saw me wavering. He gave a giant sniff. 'I'll do another dare if you let me stay!' 'OK then, climb up the tree and fetch 160

Tracy's knickers back,' said Football, quick as a wink. 'No!' I said. 'Yes!' said Football. 'All right,' said Alexander. 'Don't be crazy,' I said, suddenly scared. It was like everything was spinning too fast and I couldn't stop it. 'Football, please. You can't dare him to do that.' 'I did it,' said Football. 'And you did it too, even though you're little and only a girl.' 'I'll do it,' said Alexander. 'I still think it's mad and I'll probably get killed but I don't care. I'll still do it. I'll show you.' He ran to the window. 'You mustn't, Alexander!' I ran after him, but he was surprisingly fast. 'You can't climb, you can't balance, you can't do anything! You'll fall!' 'I told you, I don't care,' said Alexander, and he tried to jump up on the window ledge. He mistimed it completely and banged his nose hard on the window frame. 'See, Alexander! Now you're the one who's being stupid,' I said, rushing to him. He shook his head, stunned, his nose crimson. 161

'Football, take the dare back quick,' I said. 'OK, OK, I take the dare back, Gherkin,' said Football. 'I'll still do the dare if you promise never ever to call me Gherkin again,' said Alexander, his voice muffled because his hands were cupping his sore nose. 'You're not doing any dare. You're right, we were all crazy.' 'You told me to go away,' said Alexander, turning to the window. 'I didn't mean it,' I said. 'You're my friend, Alexander. I like you. Football likes you too.' 'No I don't,' said Football. 'You do!' I insisted. 'No-one likes me, not really,' said Alexander, and he made another dash for the window, a sudden quick dart that took us by surprise. He jumped high enough this time. He made the window ledge. But he didn't stop. He swooped right out into space, like a little cartoon animal running in mid-air. But 162

Alexander was real. He didn't hang, give a yelp, and pedal backwards. He plummeted down . . . down down down into the dark garden below. 163



We thought he was dead. He was still lying motionless when we hurtled downstairs and out the back window into the overgrown garden, his skinny arms and legs spread wide. 'Alexander!' I cried. 'He's copped it,' said Football – and he started to snuffle. 'I've murdered poor little Gherkin.' 'You're never to call me Gherkin again,' Alexander squeaked in a little mouse voice. We fell on him, hugging him like he was our dearest friend. 'Careful!' said Alexander. 'I've probably broken my neck. And my arms and legs. And all my ribs.' 'Does it hurt terribly?' I said, taking his little claw hand in mine. 165

'I'm not sure,' said Alexander. 'I feel weird, like I can't feel anything properly yet. But I think it might hurt a lot when I can.' 'What do you mean, you can't feel anything? Oh no, he's paralysed!' said Football. I tickled the backs of Alexander's knees and he squealed and kicked. 'No he's not,' I said. Do you know the most amazing thing ever???? Alexander wasn't hurt at all. He didn't break so much as a fingernail! We stared at him in awe, wondering how he could possibly have survived that great drop unscathed. I'd always thought there was something not quite human about Alexander. Perhaps he was really an alien from another planet? That would explain a lot. But the real reason for Alexander's remark- able survival only became apparent when he very gingerly got onto all fours and then stood up. He had fallen onto an old discarded mattress! 'You must be the luckiest kid ever!' I said. 'Though you might have a fleabite or two,' said Football. 166

'I think I might have hurt myself somewhere,' said Alexander, sounding wistful. 'This leg feels a bit odd. It's throbbing. I think I could have broken it. Definitely.' 'You couldn't possibly have broken your leg,' said Football. 'You'd be, like . . . ' He mimed a footballer writhing on his back. 'You'd have to be stretchered off.' 'Maybe ... maybe I'm just better at putting up with the pain,' said Alexander, experimenting with a limp. 'It was your other leg you were rubbing a minute ago.' 'Perhaps I've broken both,' Alexander persisted. 'You haven't broken anything at all and I'm so glad, Alexander,' I said, giving him another hug. 'Yeah, me too,' Football said gruffly. 'And you won't call me the G word ever again?' 'Right.' 'Because I did almost do the dare, didn't I?' said Alexander. 'Maybe I am Alexander the Great.' 'You're Alexander the Small,' said Football, patting him. 167

'You're Football the ever so Tall,' said Alexander. He turned to me. 'And you're Trace who wins every race. OK?' 'OK.' 'And we're all friends now?' said Alexander. 'Yes, of course we are,' I said. 'Alexander, stop limping. There's nothing the matter with your leg.' 'There is,' said Alexander. 'If I've got a broken leg I won't have to do PE at school.' 'You're never at school anyway,' I said. 'No, but I might have to be soon,' said Alexander, sighing. 'They wrote a letter to my mum and dad and they went nuts. My dad says he's going to escort me to school himself.' 'You're going to enjoy that!' I said. 'So it's just going to be you and me hanging out at the house, Tracy?' said Football. 'Well. I can't, can I? Not if I'm at my mum's. I'll be moving right away. Hey, my mum's flat is incredible, you should see all the stuff she's got!' They didn't seem that interested. 'You'll just muck it all up anyway,' said Football. 'No I won't!' I've got it all sussed out. I'm going to dust all her dinky little ornaments and vacuum the 168

carpets and Mum will think I'm s-o-o-o useful she'll never ever get fed up with me and send me away again. 'I'm going to be my mum's little treasure,' I declared. 'I don't know why you want to go and stay with her,' said Football. 'You must be mad. She is mad, isn't she, Gherkin?' 'You're not to call me that!' Alexander said, stamping his foot. 'Ouch! That was my bad leg.' 'Sorry, sorry! But she is mad, isn't she?' said Football. Alexander glanced at me nervously – but nodded. 'Who cares what you two think?' I said fiercely. They were wrong. I wasn't mad. Any girl would want to live with her mum. Even a girl who already had a sort-of mum. I haven't written much about Cam recently. There have been lots and lots of Cam bits. I just haven't felt like writing them. I mean, writers can't put everything down. If you started writing everything exactly as it happened you'd end up with page after page 169

about opening your eyes and snuggling down in bed for another five minutes and then getting up and going to the loo and brushing your teeth and playing games squeezing your name out in paste and seeing what you'd look like with a toothbrush moustache . . . well, you'd need a whole new chapter before you'd even got started on breakfast. Writers have to be selective. That's what Mrs Vomit Bagley says. Did I put that she's got wondrously unfortunate teeth? She spits a little bit whenever she says an 's' word. If she's standing too near you then you're not wondrously fortunate because you get a little spray of V.B. saliva all over your face. Not that this has happened to me recently as I've hardly been to school, I've just been bunking off to go to the house. They'll be getting in touch with Cam any minute. Maybe it's just as well I'm going off to my mum's. No, it's weller than well. I can't wait. I wish it wasn't being done in all these daft stages. Elaine says I can go for a week. I can't see why I can't go for ever right away. All this packing and unpacking is starting to get on my nerves. 170

Cam said she'd help me pack, but then she kept saying I didn't need this and I didn't need that – and I said it would be sensible to take nearly all my stuff seeing as I'd be staying there permanently soon. Permanently was a very dramatic sort of word. It was like it bounced backwards and forwards between us long after I'd said it. As if it was knocking us both on the head. Then Cam blinked hard and said, 'Right, yes, of course, OK,' in a quick gabble, shoving all my stuff in a suitcase, while I said, 'Perhaps it's a bit daft, and anyway, my mum will probably buy me all sorts of new stuff. Designer. Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger—' 'NYDK, yes, yes, you keep saying.' 'DKNY! Honestly, you don't know anything, Cam,' I said, exasperated. 'I know one thing,' said Cam quietly. 'I'm going to miss you, kid.' I swallowed hard. 'Well, I'll miss you too. I expect.' I hated the way she was looking at me. It wasn't fair. 'Fostering 171

isn't, like, permanent,' I said. 'They told you that right at the beginning, didn't they?' They told me,' said Cam. She picked up one of my old T-shirts and hung onto it like it was a cuddle blanket. 'But I didn't get what it would feel like.' 'I'm sorry, Cam,' I said. 'I am. Really. But I've got to be with my mum.' 'I know,' said Cam. She hesitated. She looked down at the T-shirt as if I was inside it. 'But Tracy . . . don't get too upset if it doesn't quite work out the way you want.' 'It is working out!' 'I know, I know. And it's great that you're being reunited with your mum, but maybe you'll find it won't end up like a fairy story, happy ever after, for ever and ever.' It will, it will. She just doesn't want it to. 'It will end happily ever after, you wait and see,' I said, pulling my T-shirt away from her and stuffing it in my suitcase with all the others. 'Tracy, I know—' 'You don't know anything!' I interrupted. 'You don't know my mum. You don't even know me properly. It's not like we've been together ages and ages. I don't see why you have to be 172

so . . . so . . . so shaking your head and giving me all these little warnings about it not working out. You obviously think I'm so horrible and bad and difficult that my mum will get sick of me in two seconds.' 'I don't think that at all. And you're not horrible and bad and difficult. Well, you are – but you can be great too. It's just that even if you're the greatest kid in the whole world and behave beautifully with your mum it still might not work out. Your mum isn't used to kids.' 'Neither were you, but you took me on.' Ah! I had a sudden idea. 'You can take some other kid now.' 'I don't want some other kid,' said Cam. She put her arm round me. 'I want you.' I could hardly breathe. I wanted to cuddle close and hang onto her and tell h e r . . . tell her all sorts of stupid things. But I also wanted to shove her hard and shout at her for spoiling my big chance to get back to my mum. I wriggled away from her and went on packing my suitcase. 'If you really wanted me you'd have made far more fuss in the first place,' I said, tucking my scrubby old trainers 173

under my gungy chainstore denims. 'You'd have bought me decent clothes. And proper presents.' 'Oh Tracy, don't start,' said Cam, suddenly cross. She got up and started marching round my bat cave in an agitated fashion like she was a dog with fleas. 'You've hardly given me anything,' I said, cross too. 'I've never known anyone so stingy. And yet look at all the stuff my mum's given me.' 'A doll,' said Cam, picking it up. She held it at arm's length. 'Yes, but it's not like it's any old doll. It cost a fortune. It's not a little kid's doll, it's a collector's item. She gave it me like an ornament. Lots of grown-up ladies have doll collections. You wouldn't understand.' I sneered at Cam in her worn old plaid shirt and baggy jeans. 'You're not that sort of lady.' 'Thank God,' said Cam. 'I don't fit in here, Cam. Not with you. Or Jane and Liz and all your other stupid friends. I fit with my mum. Her and me. We're relatives. You're just my foster mum. You just get paid to look after me, that's all. I bet that's why you're making all the fuss, because you'll miss the cash when I'm gone.' 174

Think that if you want, Tracy,' said Cam in this irritating martyr voice. 'It's true!' 'OK, OK,' said Cam, folding her arms. 'It isn't OK!' I said, stamping my foot. 'I don't know what you do with the money. It isn't like you spend it on me.' 'That's right,' said Cam, in this maddening there-there-I'll-agree-with-whatever-you-say- you-stupid-fool voice. 'It's wrong- and I'm sick of it,' I shouted. 'Do you know something? Even if it doesn't work out with my mum I still don't want to come back here. I'm sick of this boring old dump. I'm sick of you.' 'Well clear off then, you ungrateful little beast. I'm sick of you too!' Cam yelled, and she banged out of the bat cave in tears. There. That's what she thinks of me. Well, see if I care. UNGRATEFUL. Why do I always have to be grateful to people? Kids are always expected to be grateful grateful grateful. It's hateful being grateful. It's not fair. I'm supposed to be grateful to Cam for looking after me but I'm not allowed to look after myself. Though I could, easy-peasy. I'm supposed to be grateful for my yucky veggie 175

meals (she hardly ever takes me to McDonald's) and my unstylish chainstore clothes (no wonder they pick on me at school) and my boring old books (honestly, have you tried reading Little Women? – who cares if Jo was Cam's all-time favourite book character?) and trips to museums (OK, I liked seeing the mummies and the little hunched-up dead man but all those pictures and pots were the pits). If I could only earn my own money I could buy all the stuff I really need. It's not fair that kids aren't allowed to work. I'd be great flogging stuff down the market or selling ice creams or working in a nursery. If I could only get a job I could eat Big Macs and french fries every day and wear designer from top to toe, yeah, especially my footware, and buy all the videos and computer games I want and take a trip to Disneyland. Yeah! I bet my mum will take me to Disneyland if I ask her. 176

It is going to end up like a fairy story. I'm going to live happily ever after. I am. Even if Football doesn't think so. I hate him. No I don't. I quite like him in a weird sort of way. I'm worried about him. He's not going to live happily ever after. I went to our house to say goodbye to Football and Alexander, seeing as I'm going to my mum's. Alexander wasn't there. I didn't think Football was either. I went into the house and there was no sign of anyone – and no pro- visions in the cardboard fridge either. I checked upstairs and looked out of the window at the tree. My knickers were still up there. The tree seemed a long way from the window. We were all crazy. I looked down, my heart thudding when I thought of Alexander. And then I screamed. Someone was lying spread-eagled on the mattress. Someone bigger than Alexander. Someone wearing last year's football strip. 'Football!' I yelled, and hurtled back inside the house and out the back window and down the overgrown garden to the mattress. 'Football, Football, Football!' I cried, standing 177

over his still sprawled body. He opened his eyes and peered at me. 'Tracy?' 'Oh, Football, you're alive!' I cried, going down on my knees beside him. 'Ooh Tracy, I didn't know you cared,' he said, giggling. I gave him a quick flick round the face. 'Quit that, idiot! Did you fall?' 'I'm just having a little lie down.' I touched his arm. He was icy cold and his shirt was damp. 'Have you been here all night? You're crazy.' 'Yeah. That's me. Mad. Nuts. Totally out of it.' 'You are,' I said. 'You'll make yourself ill.' 'So what?' 'You won't be able to play football.' 'Sure I will.' He reached for his football at the edge of the mattress and threw it in the air. He tried to catch it but it bounced off his finger- tips into the undergrowth. Football swore, but didn't bother to get up. He lay where he was, flicking his dad's lighter on and off, on and off above his head. His co- ordination was lousy. 178

'You'll drop it and set yourself alight, you nutter. Stop it!' 'I'm warming myself up.' 'I'll warm you up.' I rubbed his icy arms and blue fingers. He held onto my hands, pulling me down beside him. 'What are you playing at?' 'Keep me company, eh, Tracy?' 'Can't we go in the warm?' 'I like it cold. Kind of numb.' 'Yeah – you're a numskull,' I said, but I lay down properly on the smelly old mattress. It was so damp it seemed to be seeping right through my back. 'I feel as if I'm being pulled down down down into the earth,' I said, wriggling. 'Yeah, let's stay down here together, eh? You and me in our own little world.' I wondered about staying in this garden home for ever. Football and I would lie on our backs on the mattress like marble statues on a tomb and ivy would grow over us and squirrels would scamper past and birds nest in our 179

hair and we wouldn't move a muscle, totally out of it. But I want to be in it. I've got to the fairytale ending of my story. I'm all set to live happily ever after. 'Come on! Getting-up time! Let's play foot- ball.' I found the ball and bounced it at Football's head to bring him to his senses. Football scrambled to his feet, swearing. He tried to grab the ball but I was too quick for him. 'I'm Tracy Beaker the Great and I'm running like the wind, and wow, look, I've got the ball!' 'Get out of it, I'm the greatest,' Football said. He tried to tackle me. His great boot kicked me instead of the ball. 'Ooowww! My ankle! You're the greatest biggest booted bully!' 'I'm sorry.' Football peered at my leg. 'Red,' he said, sounding puzzled. 'It's blood!' 'I didn't mean to,' Football mumbled. 'Oh yes,' I said, busy dabbing and mopping. 'Like you had no control whatsoever over your 180

foot, it just developed this wicked will of its own and gouged a huge lump out of my flesh. It hurts!' 'I'm really really sorry, Tracy.' Football looked like he was nearly in tears. 'I'd never try to hurt you. You mean a lot to me, kid. Tracy?' He tried to put his arm round me. I dodged underneath. 'Get off me!' 'Go on, you know you like me too.' 'Not when you're all damp and smelly. Yuck, you don't half need a bath, Football.' 'Don't nag at me. You sound like my mum. You're all the same. Nag moan whine whinge. Think I really care about you? You're mad. I don't want you one little bit. No-one wants you, Tracy Beaker.' 'My mum wants me!' I yelled. I roared it so loudly the birds flew into the air in terror and people stopped dead in their tracks all over town and cars ran into each other and aeroplanes stalled in the sky. 'MY MUM WANTS ME!'



Mum's home was a little bit different this time. Mum was a little bit different too. She was very pale underneath her make-up and she wore dark glasses and when we had our big hug hello she smelt stale underneath her lovely powdery scent. Her home smelt too, of cigarettes and a lot of booze. The curtains were still drawn. I went to open them but Mum stopped me. 'Not too much daylight, sweetie,' she said, holding her fore- head. 'Have you got a hangover, Mum?' 'What? No, of course not. Don't be silly, darling. No, I have this nasty migraine. I get them a lot. I'm bothered with my nerves.' She lit a cigarette and drew on it desperately. 'I don't make you nervous, do I, Mum?' I asked. 183

'Don't be so silly, sweetie,' said Mum. 'Now, see what your mum's got for you.' 'Another present!' I hoped it wasn't chocolates again because I was feeling a bit sick. I was bothered with my nerves too. I take after my mum. The present was a big parcel, but soft and floppy. Not chocolates. 'Is it a rag doll or a teddy?' I asked cau- tiously, feeling for heads or paws under the wrapping paper. 'Have a look.' So I carefully undid the wrapping paper, Ultra-neatly this time, and discovered an amazing pair of combat trousers – with a label to die for! 'Oh wow! Great!' I said, whirling around, clutching the trousers, making each leg dance up and down. 'You like them?' said Mum. 'I love them. They're seriously cool. Shame I haven't got a really great jacket to go with them.' 'You're not hinting, by any chance?' said Mum, smiling. I decided to hint for all I was worth. 'Of 184

course, my old trainers are going to spoil the whole sharp look,' I said. 'I need a pair of Nikes to kind of complete the outfit.' 'I'm not made of money,' said Mum. 'I think it's a bit rich – ha, a bit poor – that Cam gets paid a fortune to look after you, while I won't get a penny.' 'Still, I'm worth it, aren't I, Mum?' I said, whirling closer. 'Of course you are, sweetheart,' she said. 'Do give over thumping about though, you're doing my head in.' I made her a strong black coffee and she sat on her sofa and sipped. Then she lay back on the cushion and stayed very still, not answering when I spoke to her. It looked like she'd fallen asleep, though I couldn't see her eyes for the dark glasses. I circled the sofa slowly, looking at her, still not quite able to believe she was really my mum and we were with each other and we were going to be together for ever and ever. I'd made it up so many times that it was hard to 185

believe it was real now. I kept staring and staring until my eyes went blurry but Mum didn't vanish: she stretched out in her sparkly sweater and leopardskin pants, so splendid, so special, so sweet to me. So sleepy too. She wouldn't wake up. I loved to look at her but it started to get just a weeny bit boring. I went for a wander round the room, emptying the ashtrays into the wastebin and taking the glass and empty bottle out into the kitchen like a real Mummy's Little Helper. I had a peer in all her kitchen cupboards and the fridge but there weren't many snacks to nibble on, just frozen packets and diet stuff and booze. I played hopscotch across the kitchen tiles for a bit and then I took off my trainers and played ice skating and then I shuffled back to the living room hopefully because I heard Mum sigh, but she'd just turned over and was still playing Sleeping Beauty. One of her black suede high heels had fallen off. I tried it on, and then carefully eased the other one off her foot too. I had my very own pair of high heels. I clonked about the living room for a bit to get my balance and then staggered off to her bed- room to admire myself in her wardrobe mirror. I had a little peep in her wardrobe – and 186

before I could stop myself I was dressing up in her mohair sweater and her leather skirt. I looked almost like my mum! I pretended to be her. I promised my little Tracy I would always love her and be with her for ever no matter what. Then my mum came into the bedroom, rubbing her eyes and lighting her fag. 'So that's where you've got to. Did I doze off for five minutes? Hey, you cheeky baggage, you're all togged up in my clothes! Take them off! And watch that skirt, it cost a fortune.' 'Oh Mum, please, let me keep them on, just for a second. I look so beautiful. Just like you,' I begged. I rootled through her wardrobe. 'Oh wow! I love your red dress. Can I try that on too? And the purply thing? And what's this black dress? Oh, it's dead sexy.' 'Tracy!' said Mum, giggling. 'OK then. Come here, we'll play dressing up. It was MAGIC. Mum got me all beautifully dressed up – though we both fell about laughing when I tried the black dress on because it came right down to my belly button and I wasn't just topless, I was very nearly bottomless too. 187

I ended up back in the mohair sweater and the leather skirt and Mum's suede high heels, and she made me up like a real grown-up lady and did my hair too. I strutted about like a fashion model and Mum joined in too, showing me how to do the walk properly, and I did my best to copy her. Then we played being rock stars and Mum was incredible – she could do all the bouncy bits and the little dances and every- thing, and she could really sing too. She has this amazing voice. She said she was queen of the karaoke night down the pub and everyone always begged her to sing. 'It's karaoke night tonight, actually,' she said. 'Oh great! Can we go? I'd love to see you being the star singer.' 'You can't go to the pub, Tracy, you're just a little kid.' 'I went with Cam and Jane and Liz once. We sat in the garden and I had a cocktail called a St Clement's and three packets of salt and vinegar crisps.' 188

'Yes, well, my pub hasn't got a garden and you can't sit out in the evening anyway. No, I was wondering about me going.' ' B u t . . . what about me?' 'Well, you can go to bed. I'll make you up a bed on the sofa and then you can watch telly for a bit as a treat.' 'You're going to leave me on my own?' I said, my heart thumping. 'Oh come on, Tracy, you're not a baby,' said Mum. 'I don't really like being left on my own,' I said. 'Mum, can't you stay and play with me?' 'For goodness' sake, Tracy. I've been playing daft games with you for hours! You can't begrudge me an hour or two with my friends down the pub. A couple of drinks, that's all. I'll be home long before closing time, I swear. Anyway, you'll be asleep by then.' 'What if I can't get to sleep?' 'Then watch the telly, like I said.' 'I don't think there's anything good on tonight.' 'Well, watch a video! Honestly – kids! You can tell you've been spoilt. You're going to have to learn to do as you're told if we're going to get along.' 189

'You're not supposed to leave me.' 'I'll do what I like, young lady. Don't take that tone with me! Do you want me to send you back to the Children's Home?' I shook my head. I couldn't speak. 'Well then. Don't you get stroppy with me. Out of my clothes and into your jim-jams, right?' She started treating me like I was a sulky little toddler. She even washed all the make-up off my face herself and then she played silly games with the flannel, pretending it was a bird pecking off my nose. I laughed a lot and went along with the whole charade because I hoped if I was really really good and sweet and cute she'd change her mind and stay home. But she didn't. She left me. She gave me a kiss and tucked me up on the sofa and waved her fingers at me and then she put on her coat and walked off in her black suede high heels. I called after her. I said she didn't have to play with me, I'd lie watching telly as quiet as 190

a mouse, I'd do anything she wanted, just so long as she stayed with me. I don't know whether she heard or not. She still went anyway. So I was left. All on my own. I got angry at first. She wasn't supposed to leave me. If I phoned Elaine and told tales Mum would be in serious trouble. But I didn't want to phone Elaine. I knew who I wanted to phone – but I couldn't. I couldn't let on to Cam that it had all gone wrong so quickly. Then I got angry with myself. Had it really gone wrong? I didn't know why I was getting in such a state. So what if my mum had slipped out for a drink or two? Lots and lots and lots of mums went down the pub, for goodness' sake. And my mum had been wonderful to me. She'd bought me fantastic new trousers and she'd played games with me for ages. She was the best mum in the world and so why couldn't I just lie back on her lovely comfy sofa and watch telly and have a good time till she came back? I knew why. I was scared. It reminded me of all those other times when I was little and she left me then. I couldn't remember them properly. I just remembered crying in the dark and no-one coming. The dark seemed to stretch out for ever into space and I was all by myself 191

and Mum was never ever coming back for me. I felt that way now, even though I knew it was stupid. I scrunched up in a tiny ball on the sofa and I thought about Cam and I wanted her so badly. No, I wanted my mum so badly. I was all muddled. I just felt so lonely, and after a long while I slept but when I woke up Mum still wasn't back even though the pubs had been shut for ages. I switched on the telly but it jabbered away too loudly in the silent flat so I shut it off quick and lay on the sofa, listening and listening, wondering what I would do if Mum never came back. And then when I'd very nearly given up altogether I heard footsteps and giggling and the key turning in the front door. The light went on in the living room. I kept hunched down, my eyes squeezed shut. 'Whoops! I'd forgotten I'd tucked her up on the sofa!' Mum hissed. 'Funny little thing. Doesn't look a bit like me, does she? Oh dear. Come on, out we go. You'd better go home, sweetie. Yes, I know, but it can't be helped.' There was a horrible male mumbling, a slurping sound, and more giggles from Mum. 'You naughty thing! No! Shh now, we'll wake the kid.' 192

I breathed as slowly and evenly as I could. The man was mumbling again. 'Oooh!' said Mum. 'Yes, I'd love to go to the races on Saturday. Great idea! Though . . . well, my little Tracy will still be here. She can come too, can't she? She won't be any trouble, I swear.' Mumble mumble, fumble fumble. 'I know it wouldn't be so much fun. What? I see. So we'd be staying the whole weekend? It does sound tempting. Go on, then, you've twisted my arm. I'll fix it.' My eyes were still tight shut but I couldn't stop them leaking. It was OK. They didn't see. They weren't looking at me. I was awake long before Mum in the morning. I had my bag all packed, ready. I wondered how she was going to break it to me, whether she'd tell me it straight or spin me some story. It was the story. With a lot of spin on it. She came out with it at breakfast. I was amazed. It was the sort of stuff I made up when I was about six, the most pathetic never-ever tale about bumping into a film producer down the pub and how he was bowled over by her and he was giving her this big acting chance and he 193

needed her to meet up with all his big-film-guy cronies at the weekend, this weekend, and she knew this weekend was the most special ever because we were supposed to be together but on the other hand we could spend every other weekend of our lives together but this weekend was her one chance of finding fame and fortune and I did understand, didn't I, sweetie? I understood. I looked at my mum – really really looked at her – and I understood every- thing. I didn't have it out with her. I just made my lips turn up and said that of course I under- stood and I wished her luck. She went a bit watery-eyed then, so that her last-night's mascara smudged, and she reached across the table so that her black nylon nightie dripped in my corn- flakes and she gave me a big hug. I breathed in her warm powdery smell one last time. Then she gave me a little pat, ran her fingers through her rumpled hair, plucked at her soggy nightie, and said she'd better go and have a bath and get herself all prettied up and what did I want to do today, darling? I knew what I was going to do. As soon as Mum was in the bath I went to her handbag, 194

nicked some money, picked up my bag and scarpered. I left her a note. The note got a bit smeared and blotchy but there wasn't time to write it out again. I needed to leave her a message so she'd know I wasn't a thief. Then I walked out, closing her front door ever so slowly so she wouldn't hear. Then I ran. And ran and ran and ran. I didn't know where I was going. I didn't really have any place to go. I could go back to Cam but she probably wouldn't want me back now. Not after all the things I said. I came out with all sorts of stuff. Things that I didn't want to write in this book. Things to hurt her. It was so hard choosing between Cam and my mum so I made it easy by doing such dreadful things to Cam that she'd never ever want me back. Only I made the wrong choice. Now I haven't got anywhere to go. Yes I have. I know where I'm going. 195



I found my way, easy-peasy. I got a train and then a bus and I had lunch in McDonald's. It was great. I don't need ANYONE to look after me. I don't need my mum. I don't need Cam. I can look after myself, no bother at all. And it isn't as if I haven't got a roof over my head. I've got a whole house. All to myself. Well. Sometimes I share it. Someone had been doing some serious housekeeping. There were cans of Coke and Kit-kats in the 'fridge' in the kitchen, and a cardboard dustpan and brush that really worked – sort of. But the living room was the real picture. A brand new television, with a video recorder too. A table with a permanent embroidered tablecloth and place settings. Three chairs, all different sizes, like the Three Bears story – a big one for 197

Football, a medium size for me and the littlest for Alexander. Alexander himself, sitting on a special rug, was making yet more Ideal Home delights. Tracy!' he said, his eyes lighting up. It felt so good that someone was pleased to see me that I gave his bony little shoulder a squeeze. 'Hi, Chippendale,' I said. Alexander peered at me. 'Chip . . . ?' he said. 'Aren't they those big oily men who take off all their clothes? Are you teasing me?' 'Hey, Alexander, you're the one who's supposed to be the brainbox. I mean Chippen- dale as in furniture. He was some old guy in history who made posh chairs, right?' 'Oh, I see,' said Alexander, busily slotting one piece of cardboard into two grooves. 'Another chair, maestro?' 'No, I'm making a bookcase this time. I thought it would be great to have a book- case. So we could keep our books in it. I could keep my Alexander the Great book 198

here. And you could keep your diary in it.' 'What diary?' 'Well, whatever you write in your big fat purple book.' 'If you've been peeking in my big fat purple book I'll poke your eyes out!' 'I wouldn't dare, Tracy. Oops!' Alexander rolled his eyes. 'No more dares, eh?' 'Not for the moment, anyway. So. What are you doing here, Alexander? I thought you weren't going to come any more.' 'I know. My dad will kill me when he finds out I've been bunking off again. But when I went back to school I limped for all I was worth but Mr Cochran, he's the games master, he said I was a pathetic little weed and I had to play anyway. So I tried. And I got pushed over. And it hurt a lot so my eyes watered. And then everyone said I was crying and that just proved how weedy and wet I am and someone said \"Gherkin is a jerkin\" and they all started chanting it and—' 'I get the general picture,' I said. 'Still. It's not like it's the end of the world.' 'It kind of feels that way to me.' 'Some silly stuck-up kids call you names. And one of the teachers picks on you. Oh boo 199